Hoe arrangement



Jan. 3, 1928.

H. W. BOLENS ET AL HO'E ARRANGEMENT 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed July 2. 192.3

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Jan. 3, 1928.

H. W. BOLENS ET AL HOE ARRANGEMENT Filed July 2. 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 2Jan. 3, 192s. 1,655,044

' H. W. BOLENS ET AL HOE ARRANGEMENT Filed July 2. 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 3MMM Ww-Mwww Patented Jan. 3, 1928. v di UNITEDV STA'IES` 1,655,044PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY W. RoLENs, GEoRGE T. STRITE, AND CHARLES J. TRAVERS, or PORT WASH-INGToN, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNORS E ONE-THIRD To SAID :eoLENs, ONE-THIRD ToSAID STRITE, AND ONE-THIRD To SAID TRAVERS, ALL or PORT WASHINGTON,

WISCONSIN.

HOE ARRANGEMEN T.

Application led July 2, 1923.

This invention relates to a, new and .improved power cultivator and moreparticularly to a hoe arrangement for such cultivators.

It is necessary with implements Such as hoes operating upon the Soil,that these implements be capable of adjustment in a vertical plane, notonly to vary the depth ot the cut or operation upon the soil, but also1n order that they may clear the ground entirely when making turns orwhen traveling along the road. In a machine equipped with implementsadapted to work upon opposite sides of a row of plants, it is alsodesirable that the different sets ot implements be capable of both jointand independent vertical adjustment in order to take care of varyingconditions.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improvedpower hoe arrangement whereby the hoes are positively driven and areadapted for movement in a vertical plane to vary their height relativeto the vehicle.

It is a further object to provide means of this character in whichseparate implement mechanisms carried by the vehicle may be kraised orlowered independently or jointly as desired. j

It is an additional object to provide such adjustable hoe arrangementwith counterbalance means whereby the hoes may be adjusted withoutexcessive labor and whereby they tend to remain in adjusted position.

It is also an object to provide mechanism of the character described inconnection with shaft driven hoes.

Other and further objects will appear as the description proceeds.

We have illustrated a preferred embodiment of our invention in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation taken on line 1-1 ot' Figure 3 showing aCultivator provided 45 with our improved hoe arrangement, with the hoeslowered.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 but taken on line 2-2 of Figure 3with the hoes raised; and

Figure 3 is a plan view oi' the machine.

The tractor comprises the engine 21 which is rigidly connected to thegear case 22. The gear case is provided with the horizontal protectingportions 23 and 24 to which Serial No. 648,907.

are connected the bevel gear housings 25 and 26. The wheel-drivehousings 27 and 28 extend downwardly from the housings 25 and 26,respectively. vThesehousings 27 and 28 carry the front wheel axles 29and 30 upon which are the wheels 31 and 32.

The rear end ot' the gear case 22 is connected to the longitudinal truss33 and the rear end or" this truss is secured to the rear trame members34 and 35 by means of clamps. rlhe members 34 and 35 carry thevertically extending members 36 and 37 which latter have pivoted theretothe yokes 39 and 40. These yokes carry the rea-r axles supporting therear wheels 41 and 42. The yokes 39 and 40 are connected by the crosstie members 43 and 44 which latter are adjustably connected as shown atThe member 44 carries the lug 46 which engages the operating link 47,which is connected to a slide 48 carried by yoke 49. The yoke 49 iscarried upon the rear end of the shaft- 50. The slide 48, carried byyoke 49, is provided with stud 134 upon which is loosely tted the lowerend of the link 135. The upper end of the link 135 is fitted upon a pin136 carried by the bifurcated end of lever 137. Both these connectionsare adapted to permit considerable play. The lever 137 is pivoted at 138and is provided'with the lock 139 cri-operating with the toothed rack140, as shown in Figure 1.

lThe forward -end of the shaft 50 is provided with the arm 51 which isconnected to link 52, the opposite end of which engages lug 53. Lug` 53is carried by the connecting member 54 which connects the steeringknuckles 55 and 56 of the front wheels. The steering wheel 57 is carriedby shaft 58, the rear portion of which is supported in bearing 59. rfheshaft 58 is connected by the universal joint 60 with the shaft section61, which latter carries the worm 62 meshing with the gear 63. The gear63 is carried on the vertical shaft 64, the lower end of which carriesthe steering arm 65. The steering arm 65 is connected by link 66 to thesteering knuckle 56 of the right front wheel.

The shaft -is connected to the engine by any usual type ot clutch andchange speed gearing which forms no part of the present invention andneed not be shown or described in detail. The shaft 70 carries the bevelgear 71 which meshes with a similar gear keyed to the transverse shaft86. f The bevelgears 88 are slidably carried by the shaft 86, beingcon-strained by keys to rotate with the shaft. These gears 88 mesh withgears 90 carried by the hoe drive shafts 91- and 92.

The hoe driving bevel-gearV connections at each side of the shaft 86 areenclosed in housings 93 and 94, respectively. l

The lower ends of the shafts 91 and 92 carry bevel-gears as indicated inbroken lines in Figure 1 which shows gear 95 carried by shaft- 91. Thesegears mesh with similar gears carried by short transverse shafts, eachend of which is provided with a crank arm. As shown in -Figure 1, thecrank arm 97. en-

' gages-link 98 which supports the hoe carrying frame 99 which carrieshoes 100 and 101. The link 98 is pivoted in the frame 99 and lthesprings 140 and 141 are secured in the vframe and engage opposite sidesof the link so that the frame is yieldingly supported Vfrom the link,the springs cushioning relain place by a nut 125 together with a washer.

100 It will be understood that the arrangement at the lower end of shaft91 is similar to that just described.

The transverse supporting members 103 and104 are carried by the centralframe 33 and entend parallel with and adjacent to the shaft 86. Themembers 105and 106 shown in Figure 3 are carried upon one end of thesetransverse members andV similar members 107 and 108 are carried upon theopposite end of the members.

The members 105 and 106 receive trunnions formed upon the housing 94concentric withshaft 86. The side member 110 of the housing 94 isprovided with the ear 113 to which is pivotally connected the link 114.This link 114 is pivotally connected at its free end to the link 115,the upper end of which is pivotally connected to the ear 116 which is'formed integrally with the member 105. The rod 117 has one end piv-Yotally connected to the member 105 and its free end 'carries va washerand nut which retain the spring 118 in place upon the member. The pvotmember 119 is carried vby the member 117' and is urged by the spring 118into engagement with a seat formed on the link 115.

The link 126 connects the housing 122 with the end of the bell cranklever 127. This lever'127 is pivoted upon shaft 128 and is provided witha sliding lock 129 which cooperates with a toothed sector 130 fixedlysecured to shaft 128. As shown in Figure 1, the opposite side-l of thejmachine is similarly equipped. The lever 131 is keyed to the shaft 123and is provided with the` lock member 132 which co-operates Vwith atoothed rack 133 which latter is fiXedly secured to the vehicle frame33.

The bent supporting bar 134 is secured to the housing 122 and supportsthe plate 135 which is hung uponliinge 136. The bolt 137, secured `toplate 135, passes through bar 134 andthe spring 138 surrounding the boltyielding-ly resists swinging movement of the plate. The longitudinallyextending guard plate 139 is supported from the housing 122.

1n the operation of the steering mechanism, the front wheels are steeredrotating the hand whee 57.

This 'motion' is o transmitted through shafts 58 and 61V and through thevertical shaftV 64 to the arm 65 and link 66. Through the connectionestablished by the lug 53, link 52 and arm 51,

the shaft 50 is rotated upon steering moveo ment of the forward wheels.Then the slide 48 is located in line with the axis of the shaft 50,substantially no movement is imparted to link 47 by rotation of theshaft.

If the slide-48 is raised by swinging downwardly the rear end of thelever 137', movement ofthe front wheels as shown in Figure 3 will causethe shaft 50 to be rotated in such vmanner` asv to draw the slidef48 tothe right andv consequently this movement j through thelink 47 and stud46v swingsxthe of the crank arms` 97 which latter are driven by means ofthe shaft 92 and cross shaft 86 with their co-operating gears. The rod123 and its springs which cooperate with the sleeves 121 restrain themovement of the upper end of the hoe carrying frame 99. 'They cause thekhoes to have an approximately elliptical movement. The springs 124 arealso adapted to yield when the hoes strike a relatively hard orimmovable substance and will thus prevent damage to the hoes or tothevehicle structure. The springs 123 cushion rebound lafter` suchyielding. The springs 140 and 141 cushion against `vertically appliedresistance or shocks.

The hoes are swung` upwardly out of engagement' with the ground or areadjusted to vary the depth of cut by means ofthe levers 127 and 131. Thelever 131 serves to move the hoes upon both sides of the machine sincethis lever is keyed to the shaft 128 and the side levers 127 areconstrained to move with the shaft by means of their connection to theshaft through the lug 129 and sector 130 which lug is keyed to theshaft.

The hoes upon either side of the machine may be controlled independentlyof those upon the other side by means of the corresponding lever 12T.Each lever 127 rotates about shaft 128 which remains stationary as dothe sectors 130 in this method of operation.

In raising or lowering the hoes, the shaft 92 and the entire hoeassembly rotate about the shaft- 86. The trunnions 109 and 111 of thehousing members rotate in the fixed members 105 and 106, the lattermembers being held against rotation b i their support upon shafts 103and 104. The upward movement of the hoes is assisted by the spring 118which thrusts member 119 against link 115 and urges that link inwardly.The upper pivotl point of the link 115 is fixed and movement of the linkinwardly thrusts downwardly upon link 114i which link is connected toear 113 carried by the moving housing. Similarly, when the hoes arelowered, the movement is eased by the resistance of the spring 118 whichis compressed by the movement of the links.

As the hoes are raised, the two links approach a straight line and athough the spring is expanded, its leverage is gradually increased andconsequently the eective resulting force is substantially constant. Inlowering the hoes the spring' leverage is decreased as the spring iscompressed. The force in eit-her direction is so proportioned that themovement is accomplished by the application of but small force and thehoes tend to remain in adjusted position.

It will be understood that where the operation of one side of themachine has been described in connection with the hoe assemblies thatthe operation of the other side is identical.

l/Ve claim:

1. In combination with a cultivator, an implement carrying memberpivotally mounted on the cultivator, and means connecting the member andcultivator to counterbalance the weight of the assembly when the latteris moved about said pivotedconnection7 said means comprising a pair ofpivotally connected links, one end of the pair being connected to thecultivator and the other end to the assembly supporting member, and aspring thrusting against one of the links adjacent their pivotedconnection, the thrust of the spring tending to straighten out the linksand thereby swing the assembly carrying member to raise the assembly.

2. In combination with a power cultivator, a driven cross shaft, a.downwardly extending shaft driven from the cross shaft, implementsdriven by the lat-ter shaft, a housing for said latter shaft,.the upperend of the housing being pivoted about the axis of the cross shaft, alug upon the upper portion of said housing, links connecting the lug anda fixed portion of the cultivator, and a spring associated with thelinks, the spring being compressed by the links as the housing is swungdownwardly.

3. In combination with a power cultivator, a driven cross shaft, adownwardly extending shaft driven from'the cross shaft, implementsdriven by the latter shaft, a housing for said latter shaft, the upperend of the housing being pivoted about the axis of the cross shaft, alug upon the upper portion of said housing, links connecting the lug anda fixed portion of the cultivator, and a spring thrusting against thelinks, the thrust of the spring assisting in straightening out the linksas the housing is swung upwardly.

4. In combination with a power cultivator, a driven cross shaft, adownwardly eX- tending shaft driven from the cross shaft, implementsdriven by the latter shaft, a housing` for said latter shaft, the upperend of the housing being pivoted about the axis of the cross shaft, lugupon the upper portion of said housing, a pair of pivotally connectedlinks connecting the lug and a fixed portion of the cultivator, a rodpivotally connected to the cultivator, a bearing member engaging one ofthe links adjacent their pivoted connection, and a spring surrounding`the rod and engaging the bearing member, the thrust of the springresisting downward movement of the housing and assisting upward movementthereof.

5. In combination with a power cultivator, al driven cross shaft, adownwardly extending shaft driven from the cross shaft, implementsdriven by the latter shaft, a housing for said latter shaft, the upperend of the housing being pivoted about the axis of the cross shaft, alug upon the upper portion of said housing, a pair of pivotallyconnected links connectinfT the lug` and a fixed portion of thecultivator, a rod pivotally connected to the cultivator, a bearingmember engaging one of the links adjacent their pivoted connection, a.spring surrounding the rod and engaging the bearing member, the thrustof the spring resisting downward movement of the housing and assistingupward movement thereof, and a lever connected to the housing wherebythe housing may be swung to raise or lower the implements.

Signed at Port Vilashington, VViscons'in, this 23rd day of `day, 1923.

HARRY W. BOLENS. GEORGE T. STRITE. GHAS. J. TRAVERS.

